Out of Warwick’s three senatorial races, there is a contest in only one on the Nov. 6 ballot. Senators for Districts 29 and 31 have already been decided, either in the September primary or because the candidate is running unopposed. Michael McCaffrey, a Democrat who has held the Dist. 29 seat since 1994, defeated first-time challenger Laura Pisaturo in the September primary election. Erin Lynch, the Senator for Dist. 31, is unopposed this year. Since both will retain their seats, we asked them what piece of legislation they would champion this session.

In the new session of the General Assembly, I anticipate working on numerous and diverse types of legislation, but the main thrust will be jobs. I plan to push for legislation that will help create jobs and strengthen the economy. We must ensure that our students meet the requirements by employers. This can be done by making sure that our schools have the tools to meet this requirement. I will push for legislation that will ensure that present workers who are unemployed are re-trained to meet the skills of the new job market.

DISTRICT 31

Erin LynchDemocratState Senate since 200837Attorney

“I will continue to focus on creating jobs for Rhode Islanders. For four years, I have been actively involved in leading the charge for small business growth. As Chair of the Senate Small Business Task Force, we began a focus on Making it Easy to do Business in Rhode Island, that we have built upon each year. We have required a reduction in state regulatory hurdles, including the creation of an Office Regulatory Reform to go to bat for businesses being tied down by red tape. We funded a new online state portal for any business applying to start in Rhode Island, and an online standardized local permitting system that is in the developmental stages. More work needs to be done. I will champion "Back to Work Rhode Island" legislation in 2013 to place individuals collecting unemployment benefits in real jobs on a trial basis in an attempt to match employers with capable workers.”